Deep well turbine pump



July 1937- J. M. LEVIER 2,085,986

DEEP WELL wRBINE PUMP Filed April 11, 19:54 3 Sheet-Sheet 1 Fgggd.

J. M. LEVIER DEEP WELL TURBINE PUMP July 6, 1937.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1954 Jaw flzzeuzer Julyfi, 1937. J. M;LEVIER 2,035,986

- DEEP WELL TURBINE PUMP Filed April 11, 1934 s sheets-sheet s PatentedJuly 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE DEEP WELL TURBINE PUMP John M.Levier, Anaheim, Calif.

Application April 11, 1934, Serial No. 720,010 7 Claims. 01. 103-102)This invention relates to deep well turbine pumps and particularly tosuch pumps and the casings thereof which are adapted to be used incrooked holes.

It is a matter of considerable difficulty, particularly in the case of adeep well, to drill a straight hole. In general, the subterranean waterlevel in the United States is going down and the difficulty arising fromcrooked holes of substantial depth is increasing.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improveddeep well turbine pump.

A further object of the. invention is to provide a deep Well turbinepump in which the outer casl5 ing, the drive shaft, and the drive shafthousing are suitably articulated to adapt them for use in holes having aconsiderable deviation from straightness, the elements referred tocooperating to maintain an efiicient and non-leaking assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved lubricationsystem for deep well turbine pumps.

Other objects, advantages, and capabilities will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is asectional view through the motor and associated parts at the top of thewell, the preferred lubrication system being shown diagrammatically inthis view;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view which may be regarded as a continuation ofFig.1, showing typical joints of the casings and shaft and illustratingthe manner in which they take care of deflection;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the upper end of the turbine pump andassociated parts, and may be regarded as an extension of Fig. 2 on asomewhat larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the lower part of the turbine pump,and may be regarded as an extension of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a well showing the whole pump assembly inoperative relation thereto;

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3,showing the complementary driving elements 4| and'52 in operativerelation,

and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view, taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6, theelements being separated for the purpose of clearness.

Referring to the drawings, the motor which drives the pump is indicatedby the reference numeral I0. This motor is mounted on a base II whichincludes the outlet l2 for the water pumped from the well. The wellitself consists of anirregular hole, indicated at I3. Preferably at thetop of the well is provided a block of concrete I4 having an opening inalignment with the hole I3.

The outer housing or casing comprises a plurality of lengths of pipe ofsuitable diameter, designated I5. These lengths of pipe are normallymanufactured in ten foot lengths. It will be un- 10 derstood, however,that in order to take care of sharp angles-at a particular location, Imay use shorter lengths of pipes l5, and it will be understood thatcorresponding sections of the drive shaft and the drive shaft housing,hereinafter to 5 be described, will be of approximately the same length,it being preferred that the articulation of the three elements, theouter housing, the drive shaft and the drive shaft housing, shall be.located at substantially the same heights. The uppermost pipe section I5of the main housing is threaded into the base I I so that itcommunicates with the water outlet I2. pipe-section I5 has securedthereto, preferably by screwing it onto its threaded end, a ring I6, theouter surface of which is spherical and adapted to cooperate with thecorresponding surface of a ring ll which is secured to the length of thepipe by the mounting of the ring I6 thereon. The rings I6 and I1constitute ball and socket joints providing for a limited articulationin all, directions. The ring I1 is bolted to a flanged ring I8, asuitable gasket I9 being interposed therebetween. This ring I8 isthreadedly mounted on the next lower pipe section I5 which, in turn,carries at its lower end another ring I 6.' The number of such universaljoints and the number of pipe sections I5 employed, will depend upon thedepth to which the housing must extend to obtain water. I 40 Each ringI! islprovided on its inner spherical surface with an annular groovewhich receives packing material 20. This packing material is of somewhatgreater volume than the groove in which it is located so that whentension is applied 45 to the casing as a whole the packing material 20will be compressed tightly against the adjacent ring I6 and leakage fromthe outer housing will thereby be effectively prevented.

The lowermost housing section I5 is connected by a similar universaljoint with a relatively short section of pipe 2! of the same diameter.At its lower end the pipe H is rigidly secured to the turbine pump 22whichwill now be described. The pipe 2| carries at its lower end theflanged 5 At its lower end the a r collar 23 which is bolted to theupper flange of the pump 22. The pump 22 comprises rotors 24 suitablylocated within rotor chambers and having an outlet 25 at the upper endwhereby water is forced into the casing formed by the pipe sections l5.Below the rotors 24 the pump 22 is provided with a water receivingchamber 25, the wall of which is provided with lateral openings 28whereby the water enters. The spindle 21 of the turbine pump carries therotors 24 and extends through the chamber 25 into a bearing chamber 28therebelow. A gland 29 is provided in the wall between the chambers 25and 28 so as to prevent leakage from one chamber to the other. Thechamber 28 may suitably be bolted to the lower end of the chamber 25 andit includes a thrust bearing 30 upon which the lower end of the shaft 21is mounted. At its lower end the shaft 21 has mounted thereon ashouldered collar 3| which rests on the thrust bearing 30.

Mounted on the lower end of the housing 28 is a downwardly projectingchamber 32 which is utilized for a supply of oil for the bearing 30,which oil is supplied by a pipe 33 which will hereinafter be more fullydescribed in connection with the oiling system. A pipe 34 also entersthe chamber 32 and is provided with an internal extension 35 whichterminates near the bottom of the chamber 32 so that any water or sludgewhich may leak into or which may form in the chamber 28 can be withdrawnto the surface.

The upper portion of the pump shaft 21 extends upwardly through apacking gland 36 which is contained within tubular elements 31 and 38.The former is threadedly mounted on the upper end of the pump 22 and thetubular member 38, which is of somewhat larger diameter than the tubularmember 31, is threadedly mounted on the tubular member 31. The packingmaterial of the gland 35 is contained within the tubular member 38 andis compressed by means of a spring 39, also located within the tubularmember 38. The tubular member 38 has threaded thereinto a bearing sleeve40 which provides an abutment for the spring 39. The bearing sleeve 40is an element which is provided in all the joints of the housing and itwill be described in detail in connection therewith. The upper end ofthe shaft 21 has threaded thereon a universal'driving element 4|,regarding which the same remarks apply.

The construction of the drive shaft and the drive shaft housing, withparticular reference to a point of articulation,- will now be described.The drive shaft housing comprises a plurality of sections 42, the upperends of which are threadedly connected to a sleeve 40, which sleeve hasthe same external diameter as the housing section 42. The upper end ofthe sleeve 40 is internally stepped so as to receive a bearing bushing43. The drive shaft comprises a series of sections 44 which aresubstantially the same length as the pipe sections 42 and I5. At theirupper ends they are threaded to receive universal driving elements 4|The lower edge of the driving element 4| rests upon a flange at theupper end of the bushing 43 so that the weight of the drive shaft iscommunicated thereby to the drive shaft housing. The next superior driveshaft housing section 42 rests upon the upper end of the sleeve 40.Where there is no angular deviation the lower end of the last namedsection 42 abuts upon the upper end of the sleeve 40. When, however,there is an angular deviation, there is a space between the lower end ofthe housing section 42 and the upper end of the sleeve 48 except at onepoint where they touch. An outer sleeve 45 is arranged so as to extendover the sleeve 48 and over the ends of both sections 42 adjacentthereto, this sleeve being of somewhat greater diameter than the pipesections 42 or sleeves 40, so as to provide for the deviation referredto.

Each end of the sleeve 45 is flared so as to provide an annular pocketfor the reception of packing material 46. This packing material iscompressed by flanges of packing rings 41 which are located around thepipe sections 42. The packing rings 41 at each end are compressedtogether by means of rods 48 which extend through the bores in thesleeve 45. The sleeve 45 is formed as an integral part of a spider 49,the outer diameter of which is substantially the same as the internaldiameter of the ring |8 so that the spider may move freely within thering l8 to a limited extent.

The driving element 4| is recessed on its upper face, as indicated at50. This recess is provided with internal teeth 5| so that it mayoperatively be engaged by the complementary toothed element52 which isin the form of a small gear out upon the lower end-of a short shaft 53.The teeth 52 are provided with a certain amount of camber in thelongitudinal direction so that they may cooperate with teeth 5| of thedriving elements 4| within the degree of deflection which it is intendedto. provide. The short shafts 53 are rigidly mounted, for example bymeans of conplings 54, upon the lower threaded ends of the shaftsections 44. Short shafts 53 increase the effective lengths of the shaftsections 44 so as to correspond with the increase of length provided inthe drive shaft casing by the provision between the pipe sections 42 ofthe sleeve 48 and in the main or outer casing by the elements whichconnect adjacent pipe sections l5. It will readily be understood that ifthe shaft sections 44 were made slightly longer the driving elements 52could be directly mounted thereon. I prefer to provide small openings5|a in the driving elements 4| to permit lubricant and sediment toescape from the recesses 58.

The shaft 55 of the motor I0 projects downwardly into the drive shafthousing and at its lower end is operatively connected to the adjacentdrive shaft section in the same manner as the drive shaft sections areoperatively connected. The uppermost pipe section 42 of the drive shafthousing extends freely through an opening 56 in the upper wall of thewater outlet l2. Leakage of water is prevented by means of packing 51located therearound. A plate 58 is threaded onto the upper projectingend of the-uppermost pipe section 42 and a gland 59 is mounted thereonso as to prevent escape of oil from the drive shaft housing. Stud bolts60 mounted in the head casting project upwardly through openings in theplate 58. By tightening nuts 6| on the stud bolts pressure may beapplied upon the plate 58, which pressure is communicated all along theelements constituting the drive shaft housing, the pressure eventuallybecoming exerted upon the stationary portion of the pump 22. Asindicated above, the elements constituting the drive shaft housing havea certain freedom of longitudinal movement with respect to the elementsconstituting the main housing Consequently, the pressure applied to thepump 22 will result in tension being applied upon the elementsconstituting the main or outer housing. The result of this tension is toapply pressure which forces therings ll downwardly with respect to therings Hi. In this way the packing rings 20 are strongly compressed atthe points of articulation and the resuit is that a water-tight mainhousing is provided, irrespective of the depth to which the housing maygo. This sealing effect is also accentuated by the weight. of the driveshaft housing and also by the weight of the drive shaft elements which,as has been pointed out above, are carried by the drive shaft housing.The sealing effect is also accentuated by the weight of'the water withinthe casing when the pump is being operated. V

The lubricating system will now be described. For the purpose oflubricating the drive shaft elements throughout their length, oil issupplied by a pipe 62 into the uppermost pipe section 42 of the driveshaft housing. This oil passes downwardly through the drive shafthousing lubricating all the driving elements and bearings therein. Forthe purpose of facilitating the downward passage of the oil, it ispreferred to provide a plurality of ducts 63 in each of the sleeves 40.The oil is eventually arrested bythe packing 36 immediately above thepump 22. The oil is adapted .to pass from the tubular member 38 througha flexible metal tube 64 which passes upwardly be tween the drive shafthousing and the main housing, passing through the openings in thespiders 49. The flexible metal tube 64 terminates at the top of the welland is connected to a nipple 65 mounted in the casting l. The nipple 65is connected to an exterior tube 66.

The flexible tubes 33 and 34, which connect into the oil reservoir 32 aspreviously described, extend upwardly on the outer side of the pump 22,being protected from injury by a cover plate 67. These pipes terminateadjacent the upper end of the pipe section 2| and communicate throughsuitable connections thereon with flexible pipes 68 and 69. Theseflexible pipes extend upwardly throughout the length of the main casingbetween the main casing and the drive shaft casing, in the same manneras the pipe 64. The pipe 68 is connected to a nipple 1B and the pipe 69is connected to a nipple ll. These nipples extend to the outer side ofthe water outlet in the same manner as the nipple 65 previouslydescribed, and are connected respectively to flexible pipes 12 and 13.

The pipe 62 receives oil from a tank 14, which oil preferably passesthrough an oil filter 15 and a sight feed gauge 16. The supply of oil tothe pipe 62 is controlled by means of a valve 11. This oil which passesdownwardly through the drive shaft housing, as described above, emergesby pipe 66 and may be drawn off at a regulated rate by means of a valve18. The pipe 66 may, however, communicate with another oil tank 19, anda valve 80 enables this supply to be regulated at will. The oil tank 19is connected to the pipe 72 and a valve 8| is provided in this pipe tocontrol the supply of oil. The oil thus supplied descends downwardlybetween the housings, being carried through pipe 68, from which itpasses to pipe 33 which empties into chamber 32. Oil, together with anywater, sludge or dirt, passes upwardly through pipes 35, 34, 69 and 13,the rate of the outlet being controlled by means of a valve 82. In orderto apply automatically an appropriate degree of pressure to the oilsystem which will prevent entrance of the water into the drive shafthousing or into the thrust bearing compartment 28, by means ofleakagethrough the glands to meet individual circumstances.

and joints, I prefer to provide a water pipe 83 which communicates withthe water outlet of 'the pump and with a water tank 84. The upper end ofthe water tank is placed into communication with the upper end of theoil tank 14 by meansof a pipe 85 containing a valve 86. It will readilybe understood that when the pump is working at high pressure, thepressure of the water is applied to the tanks 14 and 19 and that thewhole oiling system is maintained under a substantial pressure. Thispressure, of course, will be greater at progressively lower points'inthe well on account of the head of oil above these points.

In installing the improved pump, it will be understood that the well isdrilled and that a survey is made to determine upon points whereconsiderable angular deviation will be located. If necessary, specialshort lengths may be employed In general, however, standard lengths ofpipes and shafts are used whenever possible. The whole device isassembled from the bottom up, that is, the

pump and its connections are first arranged and adjusted. The pump islowered into the well and additional sections are built onas arerequired. Last-bathe topmost sections are secured to the casting I I andfinally the motor is mounted thereon. It is to be noted that the pumpshaft 21 is adjusted at the bottom by means of the step collar 3| so asto bring the rotors 24 into exact position. This is done before the pumpis in-,

stalled in the well, by means of the nuts on either side of the stepcollar 3i.

During the assembly anchor chains 81 are secured to the rings IT and tothe pipe sections [5 above them, for the purpose of limiting the amountof rotation which may take place between adjacent pipe sections I5 andbetween the lowermost pipe section l5 and the pump unit.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with thespecific details of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must beunderstood that such details are not intended to be limitative of theinvention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a deep well turbine pump assembly, in combination, an outercasing, a drive shaft and drive shaft housing therein, said outer casingcomprising pipe sections and ball and socket connections between themproviding free deflection at said connections between adjacent sections,means adjacent said ball and socket connections providing articulationin the drive shaft and drive shaft housing, and means for applyingcompressive force upon said drive shaft housing whereby said outercasing is subjected to tension and the ball and socket connections areheld in liquidtight relation.

2. In a deepwell turbine pump. assembly, in combination, an outer casingformed of pipe sections, a housing within said casing rigidly connectedthereto at top and bottom, ball and socket I outer casing and saidpacking is compressed to establish water-tight joints.

3. In a deep well turbine pump assembly, an outer casing, a drive shaftand drive shaft housing all formed of sections of substantially the samelength, ball and socket elements connecting the outer casing sectionsproviding a certain amount of deflection at said connecting elementsbetween adjacent sections, spacer elements adjacent said ball and socketelements and freely slidable relative thereto, said spacer elementsreceiving adjacent ends of drive shaft housing sections freely to permita certain amount of deflection between adjacent sections at said spacerelements, and packing means associated with said spacer elements formaintaining watertight relation between the interior and exterior of thehousing.

4. In a deep well turbine pump assembly, an outer casing, a drive shaftand drive shaft housing all formed of sections, ball and socket elementsconnecting the outer casing sections providing a certain amount ofdeflection between adjacent sections, spacer elements adjacent said balland socket elements and freely slidable relative thereto, said spacerelements receiving adjacent ends of drive shaft housing sections, atleast one of said ends having a free fit with respect to said spacerelement so as to permit a certain amount of deflection therebetween,packing means associated with said spacer elements for maintainingwater-tight relation between the interior and exterior of the housing,sleeves secured to said housing sections, and driving connectionssecured to said shaft sections, said connections resting on said sleeveswhereby the weight of the driving shaft is transferred to the driveshaft housing along its length.

5. A deep well turbine pump assembly, comprising a deep Well turbinepump, a drive shaft therefor extending from the surface, a drive shafthousing, a main outer casing, said shaft, housing and easing beingformed of sections of substantially the same length and having ball andsocket members forming the connection between adjacent casing sectionsto provide a certain degree of deflection between adjacent casingsections at said connections, bearings carried by said housing at theadjacent ends of the housing and casing sections for said shaftsections, and means adjacent the ball and socket means providingarticulation in the drive shaft and drive shaft housing.

6. In a deep well turbine pump assembly, an outer casing, a drive shaftand drive shaft housing all formed of sections of substantially the samelength and having adjacent connections to provide a certain amount ofdeflection between adjacent sections at said connections, theconnections for the outer casing being ball and socket joints, sleevesassociated with said ball and socket joints overlapping adjacent driveshaft housing sections, packing means between the sleeves and driveshaft housing sections, and internal and external gear elementsoperatively establishing the connection between adjacent drive shaftsections.

7. In a deep well turbine pump assembly, an outer casing, a drive shaftand drive shaft housing all formed of sections of substantially the samelength and having adjacent connections to provide a certain amount ofdeflection between-

